Should I Relax My Hair

Published: August 4, 2002

Dear TeenHealthFX,

I'm a 15 year old girl and in the beginning of this year, at the end of January, I went to the hairdressers to get my hair straightened for the first time. I did the hair relaxing which is supposedly not as strong as hair rebonding. After 5 months, the relaxer is wearing out and my hair is getting back to its original curly state. I want to relax my hair again for the second time this month but I'm not sure if it's too soon to do it. I heard the relaxer can damage your hair quite a bit if it's done frequently. I was just wondering if u thinks it's advisable for me to go ahead with it or if I should wait a while longer. I asked my older sister who does relaxing for hair and she advised me against doing it at all! She says that I'm still young and my hair is pretty healthy at this stage. She said that if I keep relaxing my hair, I'll damage it and by the time I'm much older, my hair will be in a bad condition. What should I do? I don't really like my curly hair but I don't want to damage it either. Is relaxing really that bad for the hair?

Signed: Should I Relax My Hair

Dear Should I Relax My Hair,

This is a tough question to answer because there are mixed reviews as to whether or not relaxing causes permanent damage to your hair. Relaxers actually break the bonds of your hair and change its texture. If your hair is damaged and fragile, hair relaxing could cause serious damage. But, on the other hand, most of the newer relaxers being used contain things that provide nutrition and moisture to your hair, and this could actually make your hair healthier. The problem is, it is impossible to know how your hair will react to the relaxing chemicals. Some salons may test a small patch of hair to see how it reacts, and if it becomes damaged or breaks, they will not relax any more.

TeenHealthFX recommends that you check with your hair stylist before you go through with relaxing your hair again. Maybe he or she can suggest some milder ways to straighten your curly hair, or at least test to see if your hair is healthy enough to relax it again. It is probably best to be a little extra careful because a lot of the harmful effects of hair relaxing, like thinning, may not show up until you are older, and you probably do not want to risk going bald!

Signed: TeenHealthFX

Ratings

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30% of teens with depression also have a substance abuse problem.

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7-10% of college students will drop out of school because of credit problems.

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The teen pregnancy rate in the United States is the highest of any industrialized democracy, nearly twice that of Great Britain and 10 times that of Japan. 4

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Among male drivers between 15 and 20 years of age who were involved in fatal crashes in 2005, 38% were speeding at the time of the crash and 24% had been drinking.

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One in four teenage girls in the U.S. had at least one common sexually transmitted disease.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youths ages 15 to 20. 19

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Each year, half of all HIV infections are among people under the age of 25.

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One out of every six American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. A total of 17.7 million women have been victims of these crimes. 23

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